Reports suggest that Deutsche Bank AG is close to a deal worth more than €2bn to settle with authorities in the US and UK who are investigating allegations that the bank rigged benchmark interest rates.

Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal cite sources who are familiar with the matter - this would be the largest such fine issued to a financial institution. The previous record was a £940m fine paid by Swiss banking giant UBS in December 2012.

At the end of December Deutsche Bank said that it had set aside €3.2bn for potential fines and penalties relating to the case.

Last night it added that it has €1.5bn ready to cover litigation costs.

Seven banks and brokers including Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Citibank have already ben fined in relation to the manipulation of the benchmark interest rate that is used to set the prices for £300tn of financial contracts around the globe.

Despite its legal difficulties, Deutsche Bank says that it will still return a profit for the first quarter of 2015 when it publishes results on Wednesday next (April 29th).